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Lynn Dagny
Gesture Sketch There lies here a great collection of abandoned lines. Many things tossed around to make some kind of sense, and more still discarded. Simple thematic modifiers such as discrimination, aggression, and some wayward sort of dedication. Contour Lines of an Autobiography Just Eastern European enough to fit in, and just Chinese enough to catch the wrong kinds of attention, I walk a fine line indeed. As a product of a randy Chinese band that ‘passed through’ my deep Northern hometown, I never found life agreeable with my existence at all. Momma, though drowned in denial (heh, de-nile. Wasn’t that some sort of old Earth joke or something?), she must have hated me. Why else would she give me such a Chinese name as ‘Lian,’ anyway?! It’s hard enough to fit in as it is. Russians and Americans are pretty, and thick, and blond a lot of the time. I’ve got all this dark hair and a snub nose. She insists that there are dark Russians, too, with small eyes even, but I guess she can’t do much about the nose. Oh well. Life really gets difficult at the tall end of public education. You know, with those hormonal teenagers. They can get really creative with their insults, and they can find ways to make a person absolutely miserable without having to do much. Long story short I start ditching school early. I turn 14, I think, before I really start giving up and each succeeding year after I ditch more and more. I guess by the time I would ‘graduate’ I pretty much never go anymore. Why should I? There’s nothing for me there but complex numbers and fancy-pants words. ‘Round the time I figure out how to hold a tray, I get to be good buddies with the local American Red Cross relief worker’s son. Holding supplies for his Da while he works, I start learning tidbits and tricks. It begins with applying a cloth bandage and antifungal poultice. From there it progresses to administering vaccinations and medicines, and setting broken bodies up to heal right. Before I know it, I’m a regular nurse under Da Paskel’s elbow. Pretty soon he’s got me helping him with outright surgeries. You try picking out every tiny lead ball out of a leg after a hunter made a bad shot. I’m pretty cool with blood; I can keep sight of the goal easily when things start to go wrong. Da Paskel complimented me on it even. Said I was a natural surgeon, and he wishes I could get to a proper hospital and do it right. I couldn’t believe it. Reason enough to finish school up! Most of time these days I clean up after a fight. Just because I quit going to school doesn’t mean the bullies will give up. After all, why let the easy prey go, right? As the kids get older, things get more and more violent. It turned in to knowing how to throw a decent punch or losing teeth. Once school let out, the nitwits start carrying iron bars and old pipes. I have to learn to defend myself with more than just my fists. One of the long term patients I’d started bringing lunch to, the one who lost his fingers to the serpentine belt on his truck, taught me how to shoot. He took me out on the fields and taught me how to shoot proper, I mean. I can hold out my gun and mean it. Luckily the Pipers take the hint and no real bloodshed results of it. Not yet, anyway. But when we do scrap, where’ve they got to go? The Red Cross, of course, and I’m not allowed to say no to the snot-nosed jerks. Da Paskel? Proud as can be. Momma? She’s scared. Scared I’m going to run off to some highbrow American pod and lose myself in the Universe. As if. I’d never be stupid enough to lose myself. When you boil right down to it, I’m the most important thing I’ve got. I’m headed South. I’m going to head to Atlantis, and do some real work. I guess Da Paskel’s letter of recommendation is pretty good. Maybe I’ll manage to do something with the life I have. My Intentions Lynn interests me more so than I initially realized. I haven't formed a character so spontaneously before. Actually, she totally doesn't fit what is going to be required of her. I look forward to developing her character to abandon self martyrdom and accept the ideas trust and faith in others in Jaworski's platoon. So why isn't she an aggressive little prat around the PCs right now? Frankly, I don't want to bother with being skewered and roasted. She moved to Atlantis in an attempt to turn over a new leaf, so I'm sort of stretching that to include her attempting to trust people, if only a little. There are still some things she just can't manage. Not yet. And don't kid yourself, she's only human. She's got her soft spots. We'll just have to see what they are. Category: Characters Category:Characters